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benlundns's review against another edition
4.0
This book was rare in the fact that it was much better and more fleshed out than the original. I think that this book shows the author growing as a writer. The first book focused just on Richard "The Jackal". There were minor characters orbiting him, but that book was 100% about him. In this book, the world expands, we have kingdoms, we have different leaders, different factions, plots and counter-plots, it is a much more complex world. And I think that is what Marco does so well, his books lay out military maneuvering, and political scheming as the gears that move this world forward. There is no one big hero or villain that is just omnipresent over everything. The plot moves forward in incremental steps until the whole is revealed and we are almost as surprised as the characters. I know there is a third book, and I am excited to get to it, mostly because I want to know where everyone goes from here. There are still a lot of balls up in the air, and they've all got to land. I'm sure we will be introduced to even more characters that will contribute to the tapestry Marco is weaving for us.
roaming_enn's review against another edition
5.0
The first thing you must understand before you read this is that the sea comprises about 70% of the battleground. Therefore there will be a lot of technical vocabulary concerning ships and ship warfare. The first most helpful thing I did for myself was look up certain words such as dreadnought and schooner. The second most helpful thing I did was to look up starboard and port. Perhaps most people already know what they are, but I didn't, and when I looked it up, it helped immensely in understanding what was going on. But one thing I wish I had done for myself was write down the name of each ship, what kind of ship it was, and who's supposed to be on it.
Now, to get to the good stuff. This was probably my favorite out of the three. Not only did it contain my favorite character in the series, Simon Darquis, but the story truly was grand in scope. It was fascinating to see Biagio's plan unfolding, though at first, like the other characters, I wasn't sure he even had one. Each new character is something special, and many of them are used as pawns for Biagio's 'grand design,' as he calls it. Some of the most notable are Lorla, the teenage young woman in a little girl's body; the twin red-haired dukes Enli and Eneas, the latter of whom commands an army of the air, comprised of black ravens; and, my favorite, Simon Darquis, Biagio's love interest and the one he sends to abduct Richius' daughter. I feel like it was in this book that the shades of gray Marco is known for stand out the most. *Nobody* is purely evil or purely good. This is probably why I like his stuff so much. It was a struggle to get through because of all the new terminology, but it was well worth the effort.
This book deserves 5/5 stars.
Now, to get to the good stuff. This was probably my favorite out of the three. Not only did it contain my favorite character in the series, Simon Darquis, but the story truly was grand in scope. It was fascinating to see Biagio's plan unfolding, though at first, like the other characters, I wasn't sure he even had one. Each new character is something special, and many of them are used as pawns for Biagio's 'grand design,' as he calls it. Some of the most notable are Lorla, the teenage young woman in a little girl's body; the twin red-haired dukes Enli and Eneas, the latter of whom commands an army of the air, comprised of black ravens; and, my favorite, Simon Darquis, Biagio's love interest and the one he sends to abduct Richius' daughter. I feel like it was in this book that the shades of gray Marco is known for stand out the most. *Nobody* is purely evil or purely good. This is probably why I like his stuff so much. It was a struggle to get through because of all the new terminology, but it was well worth the effort.
This book deserves 5/5 stars.
nick_borrelli's review
5.0
This review is for the entire Tyrants and Kings series (The Jackal of Nar, The Grand Design and The Saints of the Sword). I stumbled upon these books when I was working at Borders about 15 years ago. Back then I wasn't as serious as I am now about the content of what I read, so I admit that I picked up the Jackal of Nar because it had a really cool cover. After reading it I was blown away by how good it was. At the time I was just getting into fantasy, but I had read enough to know that I wanted to keep reading. Anyway, fast forward 15 years later and I decided to reread this series with a more discerning reading palate to see if it still holds up to what I remember all those years ago. And guess what.....it does! One of the things that makes this series so good and makes it work where other fantasy books fail is that the characters evolve and change so much over the course of the series. Just when you think you have a character figured out, they do something totally out of left field that you didn't see coming. Richius Vantran is one of the most unlikely of "heroes" as a protagonist. Constantly examining himself and his decisions, there is a vulnerability there that is easy to relate to. The setting of the story is also one that I was instantly attracted to. The almost steampunk-like city of Nar is such a compelling locale to be placed in the center of a fantasy story. That's another reason why I like this series so much, Marco throws out all of the usual conventional fantasy templates. There are no endless quests here - only excellent political intrigues and a fantastic story that will keep you turning the pages until your wife yells at you to come to bed. If you haven't read John Marco before, that is your loss. The good news is that you can redeem yourself by picking up the Jackal of Nar, start there, and continue to read everything he has published since then. The guy should have way more notoriety than he has. Hopefully that will change as he continues to put out amazing books.
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